KALAMAZOO, MI – Hundreds of motorcyclists will hit the road in memory of Kalamazoo police officer Eric Zapata on Saturday at Schoolcraft's Olde Mill Golf Club for the fourth annual E.Z. Memorial Ride.

Now in its fourth year, the event – hosted by Sons of Malta motorcycle club in a partnership with DC Strong – is larger than ever, stretching into a full day of activities beyond the motorcycle ride, such as a golf outing, live music and a burnout competition.

Kalamazoo Public Safety Officer Eric Zapata.

As the scope of the event has increased, organizer and Sons of Malta vice president Jason Colyer is anticipating the highest turnout to date.

The previous benchmark is close to 600 riders the first year, but with a daylong slate of attractions and the band Shinedown, actors from the show "Sons of Anarchy" including Tommy Flanagan, and mixed martial arts star Jeremy Horn in attendance, Colyer is optimistic for a large number of participants.

"We started (planning) the first one ... the day after Eric was murdered," said Colyer, a current Kalamazoo Public Safety officer. "We did it to benefit his children, take care of his kids, help out with fundraising and it's just grown beyond whatever we thought it was."

Zapata, 35, was killed in the line of duty on April 18, 2011. The Kalamazoo Public Safety officer was assisting fellow officers responding to a report of shots fired when he was shot and killed in an alley near Hays Park Avenue.

The inaugural memorial ride took place about a month after Zapata's death. The proceeds from this year's event will go to the Lightning Kicks Troubled Youth Program, which Zapata often supported, and DC Strong, a charity for assisting child cancer patients. Members of Zapata's family are expected to be in attendance at the event.

Colyer, who helped train Zapata upon his hiring in Kalamazoo, remembers him as an exceptional police officer and a family man with a sharp sense of humor.

"(Zapata's) dedication to his job was to make sure his kids were provided for," he said.

Olde Mill Golf Club in Schoolcraft is the host site for the 2014 E.Z. Memorial Ride and the accompanying events. Following a playing of the national anthem and a pair of skydivers delivering an American flag, the riders will depart for a roughly 70-mile journey through Southwest Michigan at about 10:40 a.m. and return close to 1 p.m.

There will be two separate golf events, one beginning at 8 a.m. and another at 1 p.m. to accommodate the motorcyclists. Motorcycle games, which includes the burnout competition, will be held from 1 to 5 p.m.

Live music will be performed throughout the afternoon and well into the night, and the celebrity guests will hold a meet and greet session from 5 to 7 p.m. There's a free pancake breakfast from 8 to 10 a.m., a pig roast dinner to be served in the evening and dozens of vendors and merchants will be on hand.

"We have made it into a large celebration – something for everybody and not just motorcycles," Colyer said. "We want to get everybody that's out there that has nothing to do on Saturday and they need an event to do, this is the place to be."